Study On Local Diplomacy In The Early Period Of The Republic Of China

This article focuses on three Sino-Japanese military-civilian local conflicts that occurred after the Second Revolution in 1913(the second year of the Republic Era.).It attempts to examine the three incidents and the subsequent diplomatic negotiations,so as to put forward some thoughts on the practice of modern China's local diplomatic system and the relationship between central and land under the Yuan Shikai government.The influence and even participation in national diplomatic activities of local political forces is an important feature of modern Chinese diplomacy.This situation stems from both the historical tradition of handling "border affairs" in ancient China,and deeply affected by the objective conditions for foreigners to enjoy extraterritorial rights in China under the "semi-colonial" state.In this situation,with the establishment of local diplomatic systems and local diplomatic institutions,the interactive relationship between the central government and local forces in diplomatic incidents involving local issues has become one of the key factors affecting the development of the incident and its ending.After the founding of the Republic of China,the Yuan Shikai government began to actively implement the system of local Negotiation Department dispatched by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the first half of 1913,in an attempt to divide the diplomatic power of local governments and achieve the political goal of diplomacy controlled by the central government.However,just three months after the promulgation of this system,three Sino-Japanese conflicts occurred in Yanzhou,Hankou,and Nanjing,resulting in military and civilian casualties on both sides.As a result,the new local diplomatic system was immediately put into practice.In the course of diplomatic negotiations in this three incidents,the central government,local diplomatic institutions,and local forces were affected by their respective diplomatic positions,diplomatic strategies,and even mutual relations between each other.It showsthe complex relationship which both had competition and cooperation between the central government and local forces.This led to the negotiation of the three incidents,which was different from the situation in the system of local Negotiation Department,which showed a different and varied situation in different regions.At the same time,the interaction between the central government and local forces based on the negotiations between China and Japan,has also been affected by the public opinion and the Japanese government's foreign policy toward China.This in turn had an impact on the relationship between Yuan Shikai government and the representatives of local forces(just like Li Yuanhong and Zhang Xun)in the areas of foreign affairs.This highlights the gap between the local diplomatic system and its practical activities in the early days of the Republic of China,as well as the development and changes in the special cooperation-competition relationship between the central and local governments.